White House Reveals Salaries for All Its Employees

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre walks in the White House in Washington on June 13, 2022. Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

The White House this week revealed the salaries of all its employees, including the press secretary and the White House chief of staff.

The annual report (pdf) is being sent to Congress as it is legally required to disclose the salaries of its employees on a yearly basis. For 2022, the administration had 474 employees, which is down from 560 in 2021.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre makes the maximum salary of $180,000 as does domestic policy adviser Susan Rice, who previously served as an adviser in the Obama administration. White House chief of staff Ron Klain also makes $180,000; another adviser, Steven Riccheti, makes the same amount; another adviser, Aviva Aron-Dine, also earns $180,000, the new records show.

Top Biden administration spokeswoman Katherine Bedingfield makes $180,000, and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese makes the same, the records show.

Former National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, who stepped down in December 2021, had a $300,000 salary as President Joe Biden’s acting science adviser. In this week’s disclosure, Collins appeared to be the top-paid official.

White House adviser Susan Rice speaks to reporters in a file photo. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Twelve White House staffers make a salary of $48,000, which is the minimum figure other than zero. They include trip coordinators, research associates, and speechwriters.

At least 16 employees receive no salary at all, listed at $0. Those employees include Biden’s senior adviser for immigration, Ramzi Kassem, and an economic policy adviser, Justin Levitt.

Although it was not included in the disclosure, Biden makes the standard presidential salary of $400,000, which does not include $150,000 for additional expenses and travel expenses. Former President Donald Trump, a self-made billionaire businessman, earned zero dollars while he was in office.

Most Expensive Ever

Non-profit government watchdog Open The Books (OTB) noted that last year was the most expensive White House staff ever.

NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins holds up a model of the coronavirus as he testifies before a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee looking into the budget estimates for the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the state of medical research, on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 26, 2021. Sarah Silbiger/Pool via AP

“We also find that during this period, leadership at NIH was involved in receiving third-party payments. For instance, Francis Collins, the immediate past director of NIH, received 14 payments. Dr. Anthony Fauci received 23 payments, and his deputy, Clifford Lane, received eight payments,” OTB President Adam Andrzejewski told The Epoch Times on Tuesday.

Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a senior COVID-19 adviser, was not listed in the White House’s recent disclosure to Congress.

“Biden’s White House salary costs will likely continue to outpace his predecessors. The projected four-year costs of the Biden payroll top $200 million, compared to the 2017–2020 Trump administration’s $152 million (inflation adjusted to $163 million), the 2013–2016 Obama administration’s $155.6 million ($178.2 million), and the 2009–2012 Obama administration’s $153 million (inflation adjusted to $187 million),” the group’s report said.